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Church in Ukraine |
UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH NEW SITE: Up-to-date information is now maintained at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church official website at www.ugcc.org.ua/eng/.
The UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH (UGCC) is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui juris. The UGCC is a Church of the Byzantine rite which is in full ecclesial communion with the Pope of Rome and acknowledges his spiritual and jurisdictional authority. In this context "rite" means liturgical, theological, spiritual and canonical tradition. OTHER NAMES FOR THIS CHURCH: Uniate Church; Greek Catholic Church; Greco-Catholic Church; Ukrainian Catholic Church; Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite; Kyivan Catholic Church. The name Greek Catholic Church was introduced by the Empress Maria-Teresa in
1774 to distinguish this Church from the Roman Catholic and Armenian Catholic
Churches. STRUCTURE AND EPARCHIAL GOVERNMENT In 1963 the Roman Apostolic See officially declared the UGCC a Major Archiepiscopal Church. The head of the Church is a Major Archbishop, equal in rights to a Patriarch, but in the traditional ranking of hierarchs stands directly after a Patriarch. The UGCC consists of one metropolitanate and exarchate in the territory of Ukraine and 3 metropolitanates, 3 eparchies and 3 apostolic exarchates outside of Ukraine. There are 32 bishops. In its direction and organizational activities the UGCC is governed by the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1991) and particular law. At the Synod of Bishops in August 2000 there were 156 canons of this particular law passed ad experimentum. The organs of highest authority of the UGCC are: CONTEMPORARY STATUS The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church in the world. It has over 5.5 million faithful. According to statistics given by the Ukrainian Government's Committee on Religious Matters, as of January 1, 2001 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has:
The head of the UGCC is Major Archbishop, Metropolitan of Lviv and Galicia,
Bishop of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Lubomyr Cardinal Husar. From 1989 to 2001 eleven Episcopal Synods were held. There were also 2 sessions of the Patriarchal Sobor (Council): the first was dedicated to the question of the new evangelization (1996) and the second to the role of the laity in the life of the modern Church (1998). A third session is planned for 2003: Jesus Christ, Source of the Rebirth of the Ukrainian People. This will discuss Ukrainian social problems, in particular abortion, divorce, corruption and alcoholism. TERRITORY From 1989 to 1992 following its emergence from the underground, the Greek Catholic
Church in Ukraine consisted of three eparchies - Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Mukachiv.
At the Synod of Bishops which was held in Lviv from 1 to 31 May 1992, a new
territorial system was devised according to which the number of eparchies increased
by four: Ternopil, Zboriv, Sambir-Drohobych and Kolomiya-Chernivtsi. The Kyiv-Vyshorod
exarchate, which occupies the territory beyond Halychyna, Transcarpathia and
Bukovyna, received a separate status. THE MAJOR ARCHBISHOPIC IN UKRAINE IS DIVIDED INTO THESE TERRITORIES: The autonomous status of the Greek Catholic Church's Mukachiv Eparchy has been preserved. It is formally a sui juris church not subordinated to the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Mukachiv eparchy, with its center in Uzhorod, is lead by Bishop Ivan Semedy and his auxiliary Bishop Ivan Margitych. TERRITORY BEYOND UKRAINE WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE MAJOR ARCHBISHOPRIC:
In addition to these, there are UGCC eparchies in Buenes Aires (Argentina),
Brazil and Melbourne (Australia). Ukrainian Greek Catholics have also settled
in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, Paraguay, Venezuela, Portugal, Spain,
Greece, Switzerland, Belgium and Russia.
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© Web design and programming - TRC Web Team, 2001 Support - Oleh Kuzo, 2001-2006, 2011 |
© The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, 2001 Research by the - Lviv Theological Academy All rights reserved. |